Portable data processing devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (“PDAs”) and programmable wireless telephones are becoming more powerful every day, providing users with a wide range of applications previously only available on personal computers. At the same time, due to advances in silicon processing technology and battery technology, these devices may be manufactured using smaller and smaller form factors. Accordingly, users no longer need to sacrifice processing power for portability when selecting a personal data processing device.
Although processing devices with small form factors tend to be more portable, users may find it increasingly difficult to interact with them. For example, entering data may be difficult due to the absence of a full-sized keyboard and reading information may be difficult due to a small, potentially dim Liquid Crystal Display (“LCD”).
To deal with this problem, devices have been produced which physically adjust to an “active” position when in use and an “inactive” position when not in use. For example, the well-known Motorola® Star-TAC® wireless telephone flips open when in use, thereby exposing a telephone keypad, a display and an earpiece. However, when this device retracts to an “inactive” position, the keypad, display, and earpiece are all completely inaccessible.
To solve these problems, the assignee of the present application developed a data processing device 100 with an adjustable display 103 as illustrated in FIGS. 1a-c. The data processing device 100 includes a keyboard 101, a control knob/wheel 102 (e.g., for scrolling between menu items and/or data), and a set of control buttons 105 (e.g., for selecting menu items and/or data).
The display 103 is pivotally coupled to the data processing device 100 and pivots around a pivot point 109, located within a pivot area 104, from a first position illustrated in FIG. 1a to a second position illustrated in FIGS. 1b-c. When in the first position the display 103 covers the keyboard 101, thereby decreasing the size of the device 100 and protecting the keyboard 101. Even when the display is in the first position, however, the control knob 102 and control buttons 105 are exposed and therefore accessible by the user. The motion of the display 103 from the first position to a second position is indicated by motion arrow 106 illustrated in FIGS. 1a-b. As illustrated, when in the second position, the keyboard 101 is fully exposed. Accordingly, the display is viewable, and data is accessible by the user in both the first position and the second position (although access to the keyboard is only provided in the first position).
The data processing device 100 is also provided with audio telephony (e.g., cellular) capabilities. To support audio telephony functions, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1a-c includes a speaker 120 for listening and a microphone 121 for speaking during a telephone conversation. Notably, the speaker 120 and microphone 121 are positioned at opposite ends of the data processing device 100 and are accessible when the screen 103 is in a closed position and an open position.
Another data processing device developed by the assignee of the present application is illustrated in FIG. 2. Like the data processing device illustrated in FIGS. 1a-c, the display of the device shown in FIG. 2 is configured to rotate around a pivot point to reveal a keyboard. The data processing device 200 also includes a first set of control elements 215 positioned to the right of the display 210 and a second set of control elements 220 positioned to the left of the display.
The first set of control elements 215 includes a control wheel 230 positioned between two control buttons 226, 235, as illustrated. The control wheel 230 may be used to move a cursor control device, highlight bar or other selection graphic on the display to select menu items, program icons and/or other graphical or textual display elements. In one embodiment, the control wheel 230 is made of clear plastic with an light emitting diode (“LED”) or other light source embedded therein.
A series of additional control elements 250, 255, 260, and 270 are configured on the data processing device 200 to provide various additional preprogrammed and/or user-specified control functions. For example, a control element 250 may be a designated “home” key for jumping to the data processing device's main menu, or performing application-specific functions typically associated with a “home” key (e.g., moving a cursor to the beginning of a line in a word processing document). Control element 255 may be a dedicated a “menu” key which generates a context-specific menu when selected (e.g., a different menu may be generated based on which application is currently running). Control keys 260 and 265 may be designated “jump” keys, allowing the user to easily jump to (i.e., execute) a designated application program. The control elements 250, 255, 260 and 265 may be programmed for various alternate and/or additional functions.
The second set of control elements includes a directional pad 245 having an integrated speaker 246 and/or LED (not shown) (or other light source). The directional pad 245 may be used to move a cursor or other selection graphic in any direction on the display to enable selection of menu items, program icons and other graphical or textual display elements. The directional pad 245 may be made of frosted translucent plastic and may be white in color, although other materials and colors may be used. The LED contained in the directional pad may be a tri-color LED that generates a variety of colors to alert the user when an incoming message has been received. When used as a telephone, the speaker 246 contained in the directional pad 245 enables the user to hear the party on the other end of a call. In addition, a microphone 240 is configured at the end of the data processing device 200 opposite the speaker 246 so that the data processing device 200 may be held like a mobile phone while in telephony mode (i.e., when the speaker placed next to the user's ear, the microphone is located in the proximity of the user's mouth).